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International Observer -“Democracy Starts The Day After Elections”

October 5, 2012

Natia Bilikhodze, Kutaisi

Mairon Lahola is an international observer of elections. Although this was his first experience of observing elections in Georgia, he has good experience in this field in other post-Soviet states.

He lived for 15 years in Ukraine. After the Orange Revolution which took place in Ukraine in 2004, he became interested in monitoring historical processes of democracy. By profession he is a microbiologist. Canada, Sudan, Belarus, Ukraine… this is a small list of those countries where he has observed elections.

Humanrights.ge contacted Mairon Lahola two days before the parliamentary elections in Kutaisi. We think it’s not too late to publish an interview with an international observer.

- In 1993 I arrived in Ukraine with a project financed by the European Bank. I worked on Dnepr reservoir project as a microbiologist. Politics becomes very interesting when you work in a region, and especially in a country that is in a transition period where a centralized system is being decentralized. The transformation process itself is very important, which is why I decided to observe elections as professional observer.

What do you think about the changes in recent years in post-Soviet countries?

- The things that have been happening in post-Soviet countries over the past 20 years are normal for developing democracies. Sometimes there are situations when you step forward with one foot and then step back with two feet but that's normal during development. The situation in the former Soviet states is almost identical everywhere. Laws are changing in similar ways and countries are making the same mistakes. At first, very primitive and simple methods were used to hold corrupt elections in Ukraine. As a country develops, falsification methods also develop and improve. So it happened in Georgia too.

You live in Canada where you quite often observe elections. What is the difference between elections in the West and elections in former post-Soviet countries?

- The main difference is that developed countries have already had a democracy for a long time. So democratic principles are already established. The main distinguishing point is that there is a lot of control and a balancing mechanism. Civil society has the ability to control and balance the situation. The most important thing is that in the West we have a strong court system that people trust. Here people must also realize that they have huge power. You have to fight for this. When you ask people in post-Soviet countries what they want, they answer that they want strong leader. A leader always individually manages politics. In the west a strong society defines itself by its own needs.

- What should we do to become strong?

- Firstly the mentality should be changed. A change of mentality isn’t easy; it takes 3-4 generations. The main thing is that younger people should be able to travel abroad, get information. When they see new Western approaches with their own eyes they will try to establish this here.

In post-Soviet countries where the social background is still very difficult, many people can’t afford to send their children abroad to get education or just for traveling…

- You need an open economy to create a middle class. When in the West a politician uses money for the wrong purposes, people organize demonstrations. They can remove people from posts. People have this kind of power. You need to have the means to gain power. People's power can be gained through the development of democratic institutions, the nongovernmental sector and the media. There are several NGOs in Georgia that are funded and get grants from different countries but their work isn’t effective.

Do elections determine the quality of democracy of a country?

-  Democracy starts after elections. The voting process itself is symbolic and routine. The quality of democracy is based on how the results are balanced and controlled. This process is like an inflatable balloon – it moves in the direction you kick it. One of the problems of this election is that administrative resources are being used by the government and the second thing is that there is a certain number of wealthy people who control political process with their own finances, which is something of a barrier to democracy. This happens in USA too but the control from society is very strong.

- Is it first time you are in Georgia. How would you evaluate the current processes in Georgia?

- Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Baltic countries- these are all countries that have managed to get away from the post-Soviet space. They have started lustration which is a big leap and an important factor for future development. I love Georgian people. You will face many challenges in this election. All the regions are different here. What people think in Imereti is absolutely different from what people are thinking in Svaneti. This is very interesting in one way. Progress regarding development is noticeable in Georgia. I quite often hear fears about past criminality coming back to Georgia but believe me, these fears are groundless because this is your history and nobody returns to the past.

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